One of the notable physical characteristics of graphene is the carrier mobility as high as 200,000 cm2/Vs, in excess of those of metals and carbon nanotubes. Some of the other reported characteristics include:
(1) the ability to greatly suppress the characteristic 1/f noise of nano devices;
(2) negative refractive index; and
(3) the behavior of the electrons on graphene as if they had a zero mass.
There are also reports that graphene has a number of unique characteristics that fall between metals and semiconductors, attracting growing interests in the wide variety of graphene characteristics.
One known technique of forming graphene is the high-temperature vapor-deposition decomposition of gas molecules as described in Non-Patent Document 1.
Specifically, this literature describes a graphene forming method in which benzene gas is deposited on an iridium surface while high temperature is maintained.
However, because this method relies on the vapor deposition reaction of benzene molecules, only the surface of the iridium substrate can be coated. The high-temperature vapor-deposition decomposition of gas molecules also has the following problems.                Because the rate of formation varies depending on the frequency at which the gas molecules collide, the back surface portion unreachable by the gas molecules cannot be coated.        Because the collision frequency of the gas molecules is not uniform even on the substrate surface, formation of a graphene coating of a relatively large area is difficult.            [Non-Patent Document 1]    Applied Surface Science 252 (2005) 1221-1227, Local electronic edge states of graphene layer deposited on Ir(111) surface studied by TM/CITS 